


How Sharp the Knife

by PattRose



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Angst, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-23
Updated: 2013-02-23
Packaged: 2017-12-03 08:07:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/696118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PattRose/pseuds/PattRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blair is wounded while on a stakeout and Jim of course blames himself for it all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How Sharp the Knife

[ ](http://s71.beta.photobucket.com/user/PattRose1/media/sharp_zpsc018811e.jpg.html)

How Sharp the Knife  
By Patt

 

Summary: Blair is wounded while on a stakeout and Jim of course blames himself for it all.   
Word Count: 2447  
Genre: Pre-slash  
Warnings: Angst and violence

 

Jim Ellison, Brian Rafe, Henri Brown and Blair Sandburg were all sitting in the back of a van watching a drug store. A man was robbing drug stores all over town and this store was theirs to watch that night. They had a description of the man and were watching, but it really was boring and they had been at it for six hours already. 

Rafe decided that the boredom was too much, he had to strike up a conversation and he chose Blair. “So, Sandburg, how do you like being Jim’s partner and being a cop now?” 

“Why are you asking that? I love being a cop and Jim’s partner. I figured you could all tell that much,” Blair answered. 

Henri smiled and said, “I could tell, Hairboy. Everyone thinks you’re fitting in just fine. Do you realize this is our first stakeout together?”

Blair returned the smile and asked, “It’s boring. Are they always this boring?”

Jim said, “Yes, they are always this boring. I hate stakeouts worse than anything.”

Jim was watching the drug store the entire time he was talking. “Guys, I think this might be our guy. Does that look like him?” Jim asked. 

They all looked through the camera equipment and Brown said, “Looks like him to me. Everyone be careful, he’s armed, after all.”

All four of them got out of the van and walked across the street. Once they were near the front door, Jim said, “Blair and I will take the pharmacy and you watch the rest of the store.”

Jim turned to Blair as they walked towards the back of the store and said, “Be careful, partner.”

“Stop worrying about me and be safe yourself,” Blair replied. He walked around the end of the aisle and looked up to the mirrors to see if he could see the guy. He didn’t see him anywhere. _Where in the hell is he?_

Jim came around another aisle and didn’t see him either. Jim then looked again and saw the man standing behind a sunglasses display and he was almost hidden by the camera. His partner was almost there. Jim started towards Blair’s aisle, but he wasn’t quite quick enough. Blair came around the display and was stabbed in the side by the man they had been looking for. Blair still put up a fight and kept him there so Jim would be able to get him in cuffs. And sure enough Jim was there almost immediately with the cuffs already out. He glanced at the blood and Blair saw the blood drain from Jim’s face. “Jim, I’m fine. Just get this creep out of my sight.”

Jim pulled him up and snapped the cuffs on him, read him his rights and yelled for Brown and Rafe. The two men came back and went right to Sandburg. They ignored the perp altogether. Rafe put his jacket on the wound to stop the flow of blood. Jim couldn’t believe how much blood Blair had already lost. Jim pulled out his phone and called for an ambulance and a black and white to pick up this piece of shit.

Once the paramedics got there they started work on Blair right away. The black and white showed up to pick up Nelson Myers. Jim couldn’t get rid of him soon enough. Jim then walked over to the men working on Blair and asked, “So how does it look?”

“He’s going to need a blood transfusion. He’s lost that much blood, Ellison. He’s doing fine, considering,” Mike Anderson replied. 

“Thanks for everything, Mike,” Blair said, very softly. 

“He’s doing his job, Chief. You don’t have to thank him,” Jim said. 

“Hey, Ellison, speak for yourself. I like a thank you now and then,” Mike teased as they lifted Blair onto the stretcher. 

Blair smiled over at Jim and said, “See you up at the hospital, man.”

“I’ll be right behind the ambulance, Chief.”

“I never doubted it for a moment,” Blair answered, wearing a smile that almost reached his eyes. 

Jim knew that Blair was in pain and he felt like shit that this has happened to his partner. It never should have. Jim wasn’t paying close enough attention and now Blair had to pay for Jim’s mistake.

@@@@@

Blair lay on the stretcher as they drove to the hospital with the lights flashing and the siren going. He thought it was a little bit of overkill, but he didn’t want to tell them how to do their jobs.

“Right now, Jim is yelling at himself while following this truck,” Blair said. 

Mike said, “I don’t think it was his fault, so he shouldn’t be blaming himself.”

Tyler Anthony looked out the back window and said, “It looks like a caravan behind us. Everyone is following us and I think I just saw Captain Banks fall into the line a moment ago.” 

“I’m never going to live this down. I let my guard down and thought I could see everything in those damn mirrors in the store. You can’t. Why in the hell did they have to call Simon?” Blair wondered. 

“You know they had to tell him, Blair,” Tyler said. 

“Yeah, I guess. But they’re all going to make a big thing out of a little knife wound,” Blair said. 

“For your information, Blair, this isn’t a little knife wound. They’re going to prep you for surgery as soon as we get there. You’ve lost a lot of blood too. You’re going to be out of commission for a while,” Mike said, sternly. 

“Damn it, anyhow,” Blair said, totally disgusted with everything. 

“Just rest, Blair, we’re almost there,” Tyler said, wiping the sweat off Blair’s forehead.

When they arrived, they rushed him in as fast as possible, because Blair’s blood pressure was dropping. When Jim, Simon, Brown and Rafe got there, Blair was already in the back. Jim walked up to the nurse’s desk and asked, “How is Blair Sandburg? He’s a cop they just brought in with a knife wound.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know anything yet. They rushed him through and I don’t know why,” Anita answered. 

“Thank you, Anita,” Jim replied. 

Jim walked back over to where the guys were and said, “She said they had to rush him into the back. Maybe something else happened in the ambulance.”

“Stop worrying already, Jim. Let’s wait and see what the doctor says before we panic and worry. Let’s all get some coffee and sit down and wait for the doctor,” Simon ordered. 

“Simon, I couldn’t drink any coffee if my life depended on it. I would throw it right up. This is my fault. I should have seen him behind the sunglasses display before I finally did, making it too late for Blair.”

“Brown bet me twenty bucks that you would be here for ten minutes and blame yourself. I told him it would only take five. Brown, you owe me twenty bucks. Now sit down, Jim and we’ll wait for the doctor.”

Brown and Rafe took off to go and get coffee for everyone. 

Jim did sit down, but he turned up his hearing so he could hear what was going on back there. Before long he heard the doctor say, “Let’s get him right into surgery, this is a little worse than we thought it was. Detective Sandburg, you’ll be feeling no pain in just a few minutes.”

“Could someone go and tell my partner and my Captain?” Blair asked, feeling pretty groggy already. 

Doctor Mason smiled and said, “We’ll tell them when surgery is over, Blair. Then we will know more. So, just relax and we’ll get you in shape to receive visitors in no time at all.”

Jim could hear little snoring sounds coming from Blair. He was already out of it. Jim was grateful for that. 

Jim turned to Simon and said, “They’re taking him up to surgery. Doctor Mason said it was a little worse than they expected it to be.”

“Don’t get all crazy on me, Ellison. Keep your wits about you. We need to stay strong for Blair,” Simon said. 

Brown and Rafe brought coffee back for both of them and Jim didn’t even try and drink it. He was too worried. What had happened to Blair? What did the doctor think was worse? How long would the surgery take? These were all good questions and ones that Jim knew he was going to have to wait to find out. 

@@@@@

They got Blair in recovery and Doctor Mason said, “Blair, can you wake up for me. Just for a few minutes? I need you to take some very deep breaths. Even if it hurts, you need to get those lungs working better. Do you understand me?”

Blair took some big breaths and the doctor had been correct, it did hurt like hell. And every breath seemed to be getting worse.

“Okay, Blair, we’ve got your blood pressure back up now and your lungs are holding their own. You go ahead and go back to sleep now.”

Blair did just that. He was out like a light. 

Doctor Mason turned to Daphne and said, “When he is starting to stir, give him some pain meds in his IV. Then we can go ahead and put him in his room upstairs. He’s going to be in room 503. I’m going to go and tell his fellow cops how he’s doing. You take good care of him while I’m gone.”

Doctor Mason wasn’t looking forward to this at all. He had dealt with Jim Ellison one other time and that was only a concussion. Hopefully, he could keep Ellison calm and explain everything before he went ape shit. 

@@@@@

“Doesn’t it seem like a long time has passed?” Rafe asked and Brown kicked him. 

Jim got up and said, “The doctor is coming.”

Rafe and Brown just looked at each other and smiled. Everyone knew that Jim really was a Sentinel, but they all had to try and pretend it wasn’t true. 

They all stood up and waited for the doctor to come through the doors. After about two minutes, Doctor Mason walked through the door smiling. 

“Good news, Detective Ellison. Your partner lost a lot of blood, but he’s getting that pumped back into him as we speak. The knife nicked his appendix and we had to go in and take that out and get everything closed up properly. He’s going to be out of commission for about four weeks all together. He’ll be in the hospital for at least four days, unless you want to take charge of him after two days. It’s totally up to you.”

“Yes, I’ll take a leave of absence and take care of him,” Jim said. 

“Jim, I just meant for a couple of days. He can go back to desk duty after five days. But, he can’t be on full duty for four weeks. Is that understood, Captain Banks?”

Simon stepped forward, shook the doctor’s hand and said, “Understood.”

“As for visitors, I think we should let him sleep for at least the rest of tonight. Then come and see him in the morning,” Doctor Mason said. 

“Could I possibly stay in his room tonight?” Jim asked, totally ignoring what the doctor had just said.

“I’m one step ahead of you, Jim. We’re putting a cot in the room, next to his bed. I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep you two apart.”

“Thank you, Doctor Mason,” Jim said, happily. 

Simon looked at Jim and said, “We’re going to come up in the morning. Do you want me to stop at the loft and get you anything?”

“Some clean clothes would be nice. Thank you, Simon. And some sweats for Blair and tee shirts for him. He hates hospital gowns. Thanks for all of your support. And you too, Rafe and Brown. See you in the morning.”

Doctor Mason said, “Jim, do you want to know what room he’s in?”

Jim laughed and so did Simon, Brown and Rafe. 

“Yes, that would be good to know,” Jim said. 

“It’s room 503 and like I said, it’s going to be set up for you also, so just relax and take it easy tonight. Blair is going to sleep all night,” Doctor Mason said. 

Jim turned to the guys and said, “See you tomorrow. I’m off.”

Simon laughed. “That he is.”

Even Doctor Mason laughed at that one.

@@@@@

Jim walked into room 503 and smiled when he saw a cot made up for him. He sat and waited in the chair until Blair would be back. He almost nodded off once, and scolded himself for it. _You don’t get to sleep. You have to watch out for him now._

They brought Blair in at about three in the morning. Jim watched over him as they transferred him onto the bed. Once they left, he checked on him to be sure he was fine. His breathing seemed good. His vitals were all good because Jim knew what the machines were saying. So it looked like Jim could relax a little bit and rest for awhile. 

He no sooner lay down on the cot and Blair said, “Jim?”

Jim hopped up rather quickly and said, “Yeah, Chief, I’m right here. What do you need?”

“Could you pull the chair over here, sit in it and just hold my hand?”

Jim got the chair and sat it right next to his bed. “I’ve been told I’m good at holding hands.”

Blair looked like he was going to relax right away. “Jim, don’t blame yourself. We both weren’t paying attention. If you blame yourself, then I have to blame myself. It’s easier to just believe it was the jerks fault and go with that.”

“Okay, you talked me into it. Now relax and sleep. You need to rest,” Jim ordered. 

“Jim, would you like to go out on a date with me?”

To say Jim was surprised was putting it mildly. “Yes, I would like to go on a date with you once you’re better.”

“Do you like me too?” Blair asked, weakly. 

“Chief, you’re tired. We’ll discuss this in the morning. Now close your eyes and go to sleep.”

“So, you don’t like me?”

“I love you, Chief.”

“Oh good because I love you, too. Night,” Blair smiled as he fell into a deep sleep. 

Jim found himself smiling too. This might not turn out too badly. Not too badly at all. 

The end


End file.
